What is the history of Saint Valentines day?
The history of Valentines day is really quite vague and according to legend this annual holiday stems from the Roman festival of Lupercalis which is a fertility celebration which is commemorated on February 15th. As Christianity came to Europe pagan holidays were often renamed . In 496 AD Pope Gelasius made this pagan festival a Christian feast day stating that February 14th to be the feast day of Saint Valentine who in fact lived in the 3rd century.
It is believed that Saint Valentine was disliked by the Roman emperor Claudius II. It is said that St Valentine was a bishop who held secret marriage ceremonies of soldiers in opposition to his wishes who had banned marriage for young men. His reasoning behind this was that he felt married men were more emotionally bound to their families and did not make such good soldiers. He believed that it made these men weak so he banned them to marry.
Valentine realised that this was so unjust and witnessing the trauma of these young lovers he would arrange to meet them in a secret place and would then perform a marriage ceremony. However Claudius very soon discovered this and had him arrested.
Whilst Valentine was imprisoned he got to know a jailer by the name of Asterius. He had a beloved daughter who could not see. Asterius had huge faith in Valentine and asked him if he could heal his daughters blindness. A miracle occurred and she found that she could see again.
Before Valentine was due to be executed he asked the jailer for a pen and paper and wrote a farewell message to the girl and signed it “From Your Valentine” a phrase that has gone on forever!
In modern times we continue to celebrate February 14th by exchanging gifts and cards to our loved ones. One gift that is particularly popular is the “red rose” which signifies romantic love and passion. So, if you want to say “I love you” nothing expresses this better than a beautiful bunch of red roses and maybe chocolates or perfume to show the lady in your life how much you care!
